Sounds impressive.... just how did you fly with one hand out the window? :D

""" I don't want my mom on a plane with you, unless your Chuck Yeager, Chuck Norris, or the Almighty himself, you're not making it to the airport in the conditions you described. Your post was entertaining though.""""

Chuck Norris picks his teeth with lightning bolts and farts St Elmo's fire!

THE CHUCK NORRIS FACTS - TOP 100 CHUCK NORRIS JOKES

Go here for nothing but the best Chuck Norris jokes.

PinkSlip taught me... although it does get tricky in hurricanes.

excellent....

My company actually got sued by him a couple years back. Settled it all with a hand shake (with his lawyer) and a slap on the wrist. It was a close call...

A slap on the wrist from Chuck Norris hurts more than a .44 in the temple from anyone else...

And that's with two big lakes to help you!

Apparently Pinnacle's HR department isn't extremely bright either. They sent me an email today to update my Airline Apps with them after telling both Pinnacle and Mesaba that I was all set, and have taken employment elsewhere. Wake TF up people!

3 on a good day if you count Apopka! I swear if I saw that lake one more time I was going to take that .44 you mentioned to my temple.

I got one better, I work for Colgan and a couple weeks ago got sent an email asking me to update my airline apps info. But really its just all automated or they just get a list of people to send the email out to...

Pretty sure those are all automated. I just took a class at Colgan and I got it too. I've got friends who've worked at Eagle for over a year and still get emails from airlineapps telling them to update their Eagle addendums.

AirlineApps is messed up. I'm glad Comair doesn't use them anymore.

(sarcasm)

That literally made me laugh out loud.

Has anyone that is whinning about this graduated from Western Michigan University? Doesn't sound like it to me. I really don't think Pinnacle would have agreed to this if they didn't like WMU's program. Each person who has commented on this thread had 250 hrs at some point. Everybody also flew through a storm or hail for the first time at some point or another. I find it very disturbing that so many of you are unwilling to help someone new to the industry. I graduated from Western, and one advantage I have over a lot of you, is that I was taught that flying an airplane involves tons of team work. Who knows, you give us a chance and we might be able to educate/help each other. It's also good to ask questions. Many of you act like you never had to ask a question and were born with the ability to fly a jet. We are all on the same team here people!

ZOhhh boy.....

(and yes, I'm a WMU grad)

Yup. You're the only one that knows this...
I'm glad it took a $1,000 course at WMU to learn that.

What are the projected hiring numbers this year?

First post. You're off to a great start. Now go put my bag away.

Please, enlighten me. How were you taught, that I was not, to fly in that it involves team work? I would like to know how you think you have that advantage over every one else. Not that I disagree flying involves teamwork mind you.

More like a $100,000 course :D

He didn't just drink the Kool-Aid over at WMU, he guzzled the whole pitcher. That is why Pinnacle doesn't require a interview for WMU grads, all you have to do is show proof of the eternal Kool-Aid mustache. Only kidding....:)

Of course you are not going to hear anyone from WMU "whinning" about this. Every students mission there is to fly a jet and now they can do it without even interviewing. It would be one thing if they had to take the JET course first as a prerequisite. Correct me if Im wrong, but from what I hear they dont. And plus theres WMU grads who have sucked it up and flight instructed for 2 or 3 years while the industry was in the toilet and built a lot of hours who still have to go through the strenuous process of interviewing because they are passed the graduation deadline this fast track program has. And this is all while the kids that they taught go straight to CRJ class. Half those kids have never flown in a cloud for goodness sake. Nobody is born to fly a jet but it seems to me that you are trying to say because you graduated from WMU that you are entitled to it. Have you ever flown a jet before? The first time I stepped into the Lear, my ass was still sitting in the FBO when we were leveling at FL400. The sims can only do so much.

I just blew milk out my nose!!! That may be the greatest post of all time. You sir, just won yourself a six pack of PBR.

Yep, I had 250 hours. Then I got my CFI. Then I got my CFII. Then I flew 3-400 hours with only one other person in a plane that was too small to do much damage. Then I got my MEI. Then I flew a slightly larger plane, still with only one other person I could kill. The first time I flew through a storm or hail (when I had about 1500 hours), the only souls on board (other than mine) were the tropical fish and crickets bound for the local pet shop. The next time I avoided a storm or hail, I had five people on board. Now I feel comfortable carrying a few dozen people.

Do you see a pattern?

ditto. Mine was Jack D.

Whew! Glad I lightened the mood a little. I'm just a "newbie," but I see this as a great opportunity. The fast track doesn't guarantee you a job. Can't knock a guy for taking advantage of a great opportunity, right?

I haven't read this much at all, but I will say I am a WMU grad with just over 500 hours. I have my CFI, CFII and MEI but I never used it (less than 25 hrs given). I am NOT a fan of this program at all. I never went into that whole WMU kool-aid crap either. But right now I am in training at Atlantic Southeast Airlines to be sitting right seat in a CRJ-700 in Detroit, my local area. How did I go from 220 (After CFI/CFII/MEI) to just over 500? I went out ald flew a ton of real world flying in actual, icing, flights down the east coast from Detroit to the Florida Keys, etc.

So while I have a lot less hours than others, I do have real world flying experience which these kids coming out of WMU do not with the WMU bubble. Flying down to ACTUAL minimums is what builds experience, not this 1000' minimum AGL cloud layer that WMU imposes.

"a ton" is 280 hours? Wow.

Every airline needs to secure pathways, and I firmly believe that you have to start somewhere, but "preaching" at 500 hours doesn't pass the smell test. Did I get hired with 250? nope, do I have a problem with a guy with 250 and has an opportunity of getting a job and "going for it"? nope, BUT attitude and aptitude are HUGE variables that create a "make it or break it" situation. The only replacement for experience is more experience. With the right attitude and smarts a guy can learn "a ton" from the guy in the left seat over THOUSANDS of hours.

Is going up and flying in VMC in a local area for 3000 hours a ton of flying? Its about quality, not quantity. In a Cessna C310, 280 hours is quite a bit of flying/flights on my own dime with no autopilot and all hand flying.

What kind of job did you get flying 310s that are not on a 135 certificate with less than 500 hours??

What job? It was me taking out a plane and splitting costs with friends going on a ton of trips. No flight instruction jobs in Michigan to the time to use wat I've earned. Crappy economy up here.

If Pinnacle have so much as an Incident that turns out bad and one of WMU wonders is sitting in the cockpit the Media will have a Field day with that....

Are you related to chuck norris?

What are you implying by that? That because I have a low time, which I admit, means I am less of a pilot and not experienced as someone who has 3 or 4 times as many hours as me?

By default if you are comparing your self to someone who has 3 or 4 times more hours than you then yes you are not as experienced as them.

just because you spent a lot of money on the flying doesn't mean its a lot of flying. I have that many hours in a seneca as an instructor.

And no its not about quality vs quantity. That sounds just like the senators and schools trying to push this crap. I promise you that flying around the pattern with private pilots getting ready to solo will teach you more about stick and rudder flying then going on cross countries with your buddies.

Good luck to you ken. It has been a long time since I have had to "watch" the 250 hour wonders. Most of them have quite a bit of time in the CRJ and do just fine now. But when they started it was interesting to say the least. Just wait till you have to take the controls from them when the plane is on autopilot.

+1


The problem I have is not that people are taking up this offer. It's a great deal for any 200 hour person, whether or not it's smart on PCL's part.

However, the impression some of you guys are giving is that you're just as experienced as people who've been flying in the real world for years, and that's just NOT the case. Be humble, grateful for the opportunity, and eager to learn, and you'll find that you'll earn respect.

Then, there's the guy with (gasp!) 280 hours or C310 cross country time, acting like he's God's gift to aviation and insulting CFI's with much more practical experience than him (YES, 3000 hours of dual given is more beneficial than 280 hours of cross country time!)... And having the nerve to call the 200 hour guys who probably graduated with him "kids."


By the way, PCL didn't just sign this agreement with WMU, contrary to popular belief over there. There are a few other schools who got the same deal, without the $250/hour glass cockpit training experience.

Yes, WMU gives quality training, but that's only the foundation to build upon for a career. And, *gasp*, WMU is not the only way to get quality training!

Some of your attitudes are sickening, and you're giving the rest of us a bad name out there. To the rest of the world- Not all WMU grads have this same sense of entitlement.
_________________________________

Tell that to Marvin Renslow who had 3300+ hours.
Tell that to the Comair Flight 191 or Pinnacle 3701.
Or the SWA flight 1455,FedEx flight 14, etc.

The list goes on, high hours doesn't make someone a better pilot. Its all about the quality of those hours and how you got there. I know someone who is flying 121 who has NEVER been in icing and flies mostly in VMC. Does that make him a better pilot because he has a lot of hours flying an autopilot with a FMC?

And oh wow, you were a flight instructor so that makes you a better pilot? What about the pilot I know who never did primary flight instruction but rather BFR's, IPC's, and commercial certificates? He isn't prepping people for solos.

Those first few flights you mentioned were on a fast track low hour program also. The foundation they had was based on getting in and getting in quick. They wanted the fast way in and they got it. Now because of that their basic fundamental flying skills suffered and eventually played out later on in their careers which ended in tragedy.

And are you seriously comparing the SWA pilots or the the Fedex pilots to your analogy of high time pilots? They had quality and quantity. Do you serisouly believe that the pilots of the SWA flight didn't have quality and quantity? Do you really believe that the FedEX guys were low time low quality pilots? Please don't even put them in the same sentence or forum as the low hour pilots. Accidents happen. Low time or not. What bothers me is that because you have a few hundred hours in a Cessna tooling around with your buddies in the clouds that you have it all figured out. From your earlier post you aren't even through training yet and haven't even done one line flight. IF you pass training and get on the line maybe you will see what we are talking about.

and yes in the CRJ I am a better pilot than you. I could hop in that plane and fly circles around you. You could probably do the same to me in your 310. Quit trying to act like the correlate. Your 310 is not a crj. Basic flying skills transfer over. Those basic skills are learned and earned by time in an airplane.